Press Releases

News from the Diocese of Southwark

New role of Diocesan Dean of Fresh Expressions

21 Jan 2015

The Bishop of
Southwark, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, has appointed the Revd Will Cookson
to be the first Dean of Fresh Expressions for the Diocese of Southwark.This new part-time role, initially for one
year, will seek to encourage, train, mentor and build a team of practitioners
to encourage pioneering work across the Diocese of Southwark.Will Cookson has been the Minister of
Springfield Church for the past twelve years and will combine his new role with
continuing to work at Springfield.His
experience in developing new forms of outreachand
leading Springfield will bring much needed ‘hands on’ experience to his new
role, the creation of which demonstrates Southwark Diocese’s commitment to
fostering and nurturing Fresh Expressions of church that can engage and reach
out to people in local communities.

Commenting on his appointment Will Cookson said, ‘This post
is a great opportunity to share our experience at Springfield and to help and
encourage other churches to take risks for the sake of the Good News of Jesus. I
believe that this is a God-given opportunity to bless others in the Diocese, as
well as blessing Springfield as a church, as we learn from what others are
pioneering around the diocese and are able to bring some of their ideas to bear
in our community too’.

Bishop Christopher comments, ‘Will Cookson has served the
church at Springfield with great dedication and has built a vibrant community
centred on the Good News. We have much to learn from this
experience in the Diocese and I am delighted that Will has accepted this
opportunity to help other churches here in Southwark to think about new ways of
proclaiming afresh the Gospel’